Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Book Review: A Vault of Sins (Chaos Theory #2) by Sarah Harian

A Vault of Sins (Chaos Theory #2)by Sarah HarianIn her stunning New Adult debut, The Wicked We Have Done, Sarah Harian introduced readers to the Compass Room: a twisted experimental jail where the guilty and the innocent suffer alike. But breaking out was only the beginning…

Even though she’s escaped, twenty-two-year-old Evalyn Ibarra is anything but free. She’s desperate to return to a life that no longer exists, but prying reporters continually draw her back into nightmarish memories, using the tabloids to vilify her. Bad press is the last thing she needs during the trial of the year: the case that she and her fellow survivors staked against the Compass Room engineers. A case that could terminate the use of the inhumane system forever...

But in her dreams, she is still locked in that terrifying jail.

When she wakes, someone is trying to communicate with her in secret, through strange and intricate clues. As Evalyn follows their signs, she uncovers a conspiracy that goes so much deeper than her own ordeal. A dangerous intrigue that only she can bring to light. One that will force her to work with the one person she doesn’t want to see.

The person who owns her heart.

A Vault of Sins is the second book in the Chaos Theory with a short novella between book one and two. The synopsis gives a good snippet of the overall story line for this installment, but there is so much more. After reading The Wicked We Have Done (book one) I did not think the tale could be more heart wrenching, but I must say not just a few tears were shed in the reading of this book, in fact I am certain I broke out a new box of Puffs to sop up the leaks.

Not a lot more than what has been provided can be said about the actual story line without spoilers, but if I can say one thing it is that conspiracy nuts could have a field day with the debacle Evalyn, Casey, and Valerie find themselves smack-dab in the middle of.

The telling of the tale continues to be well crafted with edge of your seat suspense and the characters, old and new, are wonderfully real with a home team you cannot help cheering on despite the pitfalls and moments of discouragement and the wackjob baddies' behaviors give you total permission to hurl insults at their heads; believe me they deserve every one.

I enjoyed the book very much, but will say that had I not read book one, The Wicked We Have Done, and the 1.5 novella, Our Broken Sky, which shares Valerie's story leading up to her sentencing in the Compass Room, it would not have had nearly the impact it did. So much would have been missed in the character and world building that contributes to this being the great read it was for me.

I would recommend this new adult series to those who enjoy unique alternative fiction that is not quite sci-fi or dystopian, but with elements of both and in my opinion in a class of its own, that is well written with memorable characters that are worth becoming invested in. I received this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:website-FB-twitterSarah grew up in the foothills of Yosemite, where she learned to fish, hike, and climb trees. She also had a soft spot for video games and fantasy novels, rounding her out to be perfectly equal parts of wilderness princess and super nerd.

Inspired by Carolyn Keene, Tolkien, and J.K.Rowling, she wanted to be a writer since she was eight. Her first attempted book was about twins who found a secret portal to another world in their basement. Between this creation and her first finished novel twelve years later, she dabbled in fanfiction and horror stories.

Sarah worked as a barista at Starbucks while studying at Fresno State, receiving her B.A. in English Education in 2010 and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing in 2013. She was lucky enough to score a TAship during graduateschool and teach fiction for a semester.

Now, Sarah is working on the sequel to her new adult speculative thriller, THE WICKED WE HAVE DONE. She’s liberal, queer, Christian, and madly in love with her husband. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to be all of these things at once.